RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATION SHIELD FOR HAND-HELD RADIO PHONE

Abstract: A radio-frequency radiation shield for a hand-held radio phone has a flexible radio-frequency shield releasably mountable along the length of the radio phone antenna and around approximately one-half of the circumference of the radio phone antenna, and a second flexible radio-frequency radiation shield depending from the first so as to be releasably mountable over the earpiece of the phone.

Description: RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATION' SHIELD FOR HAND-HELD RADIO PHONE Field of the Invention The present invention concerns radio frequency radiation shields of a type intended to be used to shield a user of hand-held radio phones and the like from radiation emitted from the radiation emitting structure of the phone, such as the antenna and ear-piece. Background of the Invention Cellular and other radio telephones which are hand-held typically have antennas which extend from the housing of the phone. While the phone is in use the antenna and ear-piece emits radiation which has caused concern among the medical community as to the radiation's effects on the user if the user is a frequent user over a long period of time. The present invention provides a flexible slip-on or otherwise releasably mountable light-weight radio frequency radiation shield for use on hand-held radio phone antennae and ear-pieces so as to shield the user's head from radiation emitting from the antenna and ear-piece. The use of flexible protective shields to protect personnel against X-ray frequency and Gamma frequency radiation such as may be emitted by X-ray machines or by nuclear reactors, respectively, is known in the art as illustrated by U.S. Patent No. 3,039,001 entitled "Flexible Protective Plastic Shield" and by United States Patent No. 5,012,114 entitled "Radiation Shield". . 1 . SUBSTITUTE SHEET United States Patent No. 3,039,001 discloses that a sheet of vinyl or other plastic material containing resin, plasticizer and stabilizer may have a protective material such as pulverized lead uniformly distributed therethrough in order to provide a flexible sheet of material which protects the wearer against X-rays, Gamma rays, Neutron rays, secondary cosmic rays and the like. United States Patent No. 5,012,114 discloses a gamma radiation shield which comprises a wrappable sheet of gamma radiation shielding material to which is affixed releasable contact-fasteners, which are so dimensioned and configured that when a shield member is wrapped around a gamma radiation emitting structure, complimentary locking portions of the releasable fasteners engage each other to securely hold the shield member in shielding position wrapped around the structure. The gamma radiation shielding material may be comprised of the known construction of fine lead powder being uniformly dispersed in a matrix of thermo-plastic material which serves as a binder for the lead powder so as to form a flexible sheet. The releasable contact- fasteners may be of a type sold under the trade-mark Velcro. The patent is directed to protecting personnel in nuclear reactors and the like by shielding conduits such as pipes, most clearly seen in Figure 6 of the patent, through which radioactive material flows. The use of electromagnetic shielding to minimize interference between electromagnetic signals radiated by cellular phones and like electronic equipment with another portion of that equipment and the minimization of such interference by interposing electrically conducting material in the form of a shield between the source of the electromagnetic signals and the circuitry subject to interference is taught by United States Patent No. 5,124,889 entitled "Electromagnetic Shielding Apparatus for Cellular Phones". The - 2 - SUBSTITU reference to electromagnetic shielding does not appear to be concerned with protecting the user of the electronic device from radiation from the antenna or the like. Although no scientific studies have yet linked cellular or hand-held radio telephones to cancer or any other health hazard, the effects of long-term exposure to radio waves are not fully understood. United States federal health officials have recommended limiting such telephones' use. Approximately 60% of new telephone sales are of the hand-held type. With these models, radio waves that carry the call emanate directly from the telephone while the telephone is held to the ear of the user. There is concern that the radio frequency waves entering the user's head may cause cancer. There is currently being marketed in prototype form a cellular phone radiation shield being sold under the trade-mark "Cellguard", manufactured by Quantum Laboratories of Renton, Washington, U.S.A. The "Cellguard" device consists of two sections of molded plastic, each with metal inside, that serves to block or deflect the radio frequency signal. One part of the device covers the phones antenna and the other part fits over the earpiece of the phone. Summary of the Invention A strip of light-weight flexible lead impregnated shielding material which may be commercially purchased as "Lead Vinyl Sheeting" from New Process of Portland, Oregon is glued or otherwise affixed to a larger rectangular strip of poly vinyl or like flexible material. The opposed longitudinal edges of the larger rectangular piece of flexible material have affixed thereto a - 3 - SUBSTITUTE SHEET conventional closing fastener such as Velcro (TM) hook and loop fastener so that the rectangular piece of flexible material may be wrapped around a hand¬ held phone antenna so as to enclose the antenna. In so doing, the strip of lead-impregnated flexible shielding material is also wrapped partly around the antenna circumference. The strip of led-impregnated flexible shielding material is sufficiently wide to wrap approximately half-way around the circumference of the antenna. The shielding material is oriented so as to place the lead-impregnated flexible shielding strip between the antenna and the head of the user. An additional piece of flexible shielding material may be affixed to the lower edge of the poly vinyl flexible material to act as a drape to cover the ear¬ piece area of the phone. The drape may be wrapped around the ear-piece area of the phone and secured using strips of Velcro (TM) contact mating fasteners, and may be perforated or otherwise modified to reduce attenuation of any voice-frequency signal being emitted from the ear-piece speaker. Advantageously, the antenna shield may be held in place by strips of Velcro (TM) fastening material or like fasteners which depend from the bottom of the antenna shield for releasable contact mating with corresponding fasteners affixed to the body of the phone. The antenna shield of the present invention may also be formed as a simple sleeve which may be slipped over the antenna without the need for the Velcro (TM) closure. In its' simplest elements, the radio frequency radiation shield for a hand-held radio phone antenna of the present invention comprises a flexible radio frequency shield releasably mountable along the length of, and around - 4 - SUBSTITUTE SHEET substantially one-half of the circumference of, a hand-held radio phone antenna. Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings, which represent a specific embodiment of the hand-held radio phone antenna radiation shield incorporated in the present invention, but which should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any way: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the antenna shield of the present invention unwrapped from an antenna and laid flat so as to expose the strip of light-weight flexible lead-impregnated shielding material. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outer surface of the antenna shield of the present invention as it appears when it is unwrapped from an antenna and laid flat. Figure 3 illustrates in perspective view the antenna shield of the present invention mounted onto a typical hand-held radio phone antenna. Figure 4 illustrates the invention as illustrated in Figure 2 with an ear-piece shield added. Figure 5 illustrates the invention as illustrated in Figure 3 with an ear-piece shield also mounted. Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment - 5 - SUBSTITUTE SHEET A hand-held radio phone antenna radio frequency radiation shield 2 is illustrated in Figure 1 as it appears when it is laid flat so as to expose the inner surface of flexible cover 4 and shielding strip 6. Shielding strip 6 is light-weight flexible lead-impregnated material, which may be a poly vinyl matrix material, and which may be obtained commercially under the name "Lead Vinyl Sheeting". Shielding strip 6 is sufficiently wide so that when wrapped around a typical hand-held radio phone antenna, it will cover approximately half of the circumferential distance around the antenna. Shielding strip 6 is affixed to the inside surface of flexible cover 4, and in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1 is affixed along one side of flexible cover 4, although the position of shielding strip 6 relative to the interior surface of flexible cover 4 does not affect the shielding function of antenna shield 2 so long as shielding strip 6 is longitudinally aligned along flexible cover 4 and does not interfere with the operation of fastening strip 8. Shielding strip 6 may be affixed to flexible cover 4 using contact cement or like resilient adhesive. Fastening strip 8, as illustrated in Figure 1, is of the conventional contact mating hook and loop type sold under the trade-mark Velcro. Fastening strip 8 has corresponding contact mating fastening strip 10 affixed to the outer surface of the opposed edge of flexible cover 4 as illustrated in Figure 2. Because of the flexible nature of flexible cover 4 and shielding strip 6, antenna shield 2 may, as illustrated in Figure 3, be wrapped around typical hand-held radio phone antenna 12 so as to bring into mating contact fastening strip 8 and fastening strip 10. Antenna shield 2 is, once mounted on antenna 12, positioned about antenna 12 so as to place shielding strip 6 in a position closest to earpiece 14 on - 6 - SUBSTITUTE SHEET hand-held radio phone 16. This places shielding strip 6 between antenna 12 and the head of the user (not shown) of the hand-held phone 16. It may be seen that varying degrees of protection may be obtained depending on the effectiveness of the shielding material (which in large part will be a function of the material's thickness) and on the amount of surface coverage of the surface of the antenna. For maximum protection of course the antenna would be encased in solid lead. Unfortunately this would prevent the phone from being used. What is considered to be an effective solution, one which somewhat protects the user of the phone without seriously affecting the phone's performance, is to wrap the antenna along its entire length but only around approximately one-half of the antenna's circumference (obviously that half closest to the head of the user). If "Lead Vinyl Sheeting" shielding material is used, a thickness of between 3mm and 5mm is recommended. This corresponds to the thickness usually recommended for dental and medical X-ray applications, respectively. It is possible that reduced thicknesses provide to the user sufficient protection from radio-frequency radiation. However, there is no good reason to increase risk to the user, when thicker shielding material can be just as easily incorporated into the present invention. Additional Velcro (TM) fasteners 18 may be affixed to, and depend from, the lower-most edge of flexible cover 4. When antenna shield 2 is mounted on antenna 12, fasteners 18 may be employed to hold antenna shield 2 in the correct orientation relative to antenna 12. Fasteners 18 contact mate to corresponding fasteners which are glued or otherwise affixed to the casing of hand-held phone 16. - 7 - Alternatively, fasteners 18 may contact mate to corresponding fasteners which are glued or otherwise affixed to a phone case or phone jacket (not shown) in which hand-held phone 16 is encased. In a further embodiment, a resilient collar (not shown) may be inserted into the sleeve formed by antenna shield 2 when mounted on phone 16 in the position illustrated in Figure 3 and slipped over the tapered end of antenna 12 so as to snugly hold the tapered end of antenna 12 within the sleeve formed by antenna shield 2 and thus in fixed relation to shielding strip 6. Alternatively, the resilient collar (not shown) for snugly supporting the tapered end of antenna 12 within antenna shield 2 may be comprised of a strip of resilient material, such as rubber, mounted transversely across the upper end of the inside surface of flexible cover 4 and shielding strip 6 so that when antenna shield 2 is mounted onto antenna 12 as illustrated in Figure 3, the strip of resilient material forms a collar around the tapered end of antenna 12. As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, ear-piece shield 19, which is an additional piece of flexible shielding material similar to the material forming shielding strip 6, may be affixed so as to depend from the lower-most edge of flexible cover 4 to form a drape to cover the ear-piece 14 of phone 16. Ear-piece shield may extend, as illustrated, so as to wrap around ear-piece 14. Slits 20 are provided in ear-piece shield 19 so as to facilitate transmission through ear-piece shield 19 of voice-frequency emissions from the audio speaker associated with ear-piece 14. Ear-piece shield 19 may be held in place by wrapping contact-mating fasteners 21 around the body of phone 16. It is understood that slits 20 may also be perforations or other means for provided - 8 - SUBSTITUTE SH E radio-frequency shielding while minimizing attenuation of the voice- frequency emission from ear-piece 14. In a further and simplified embodiment, flexible cover 4 is manufactured as a sleeve so that fastening strips 8 and 10 are not required. Antenna shield 2 may thus be mounted onto antenna 12 by slipping the shield over the antenna in the manner of a glove. It is understood that materials described in the preferred embodiment above such as the poly- vinyl matrix which forms flexible cover 4 and the Velcro (TM)-type fasteners which comprise fasteners 8, 10, and 18 may be replaced by many other types of flexible materials or closing fasteners. For example, fastening strips 8 and 10 might be replaced by snaps or a zipper and fasteners 18 may be replaced by any other means to removably secure antenna shield 2 relative to antenna 12. For example, an elasticized or otherwise resilient collar may be incorporated around the base of antenna shield 2 so as to snugly retain the base of antenna 12 when antenna shield 2 is mounted thereon. Alternatively, shielding strip 6 may be incorporated directly into the flexible protective covering on the antenna (possibly at point of manufacture of the phone) or may be "shrink-wrapped" onto the antenna. It is understood that flexible lead-impregnated shielding material can also be flexible material impregnated with other heavy metal powder, shavings or the like, so long as the resulting flexible shielding material is substantially impervious to radio frequency emissions. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accord- - 9 - ingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims. - 10 - BSTITUTE SHEET

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A radio frequency radiation shield for a hand-held radio phone antenna comprises a flexible radio-frequency radiation shield releasably mountable along the length of said antenna and around substantially one-half of the circumference of said antenna. 2. The device of Claim 1 wherein said flexible radio frequency shield is mounted within a flexible sleeve adapted to snugly and releasably slide over the length of said antenna. 3. The device of Claim 2 further wherein said flexible radio frequency shield comprises flexible heavy-metal impregnated shielding material. 4. The device of Claim 3 wherein the flexible heavy-metal impregnated shielding material is flexible lead-impregnated shielding. 5. The device of Claim 4 wherein the flexible lead-impregnated shielding is "Lead Vinyl Sheeting" flexible radiation shielding of between 3mm and 5mm thickness. 6. The device of Claim 2 wherein said flexible sleeve is formed of a sheet of flexible material having along longitudinal opposed edges a fastening means for releasably forming said sheet of flexible material into said flexible sleeve. 7. The device of Claim 6 wherein said fastening means are hook- and-loop type contact fasteners and said flexible sheet further comprises - 11 - SUBSTITUTE SHEET means for releasably mounting said flexible sheet, when formed into said sleeve, in fixed relation relative to said radio phone. 8. The device of Claim 7 wherein said means for fixing said sleeve in fixed relation to said radio phone comprises strips of hook-and-loop type contact fasteners depending from the base of said sleeve so as to releasably mate with corresponding hook-and-loop type contact fasteners affixed to said radio phone. 9. The device of Claim 2 further comprising an annular collar for releasable and slidable snug mounting onto said antenna for snugly retaining said antenna within said sleeve. 10. The device of Claim 6 further comprising means for forming an annular collar, affixed to said sheet of flexible material, for snugly retaining said antenna within said sleeve when said sheet of flexible material is formed into said sleeve. 11. A radio frequency shield for a hand-held radio phone antenna and ear-piece comprises a first flexible radio-frequency radiation shield releasably mountable along the length of said antenna and around substantially one-half of the circumference of said antenna, and a second flexible radio-frequency radiation shield depending from said first flexible radio-frequency radiation shield so as to be releasably mountable over said earpiece. 12. The device of Claim 11 wherein said first flexible radio- frequency shield is mounted within a flexible sleeve adapted to snugly and releasably slide over the length of said antenna. - 12 - 13. The device of Claim 12 wherein said first and second flexible radio frequency shield comprises flexible heavy-metal impregnated shielding material. 14. The device of Claim 13 wherein the flexible heavy -metal impregnated shielding material is flexible lead-impregnated shielding. 15. The device of Claim 14 wherein the flexible lead-impregnated shielding is "Lead Vinyl Sheeting" (TM) flexible radiation shielding of between 3mm and 5mm thickness. 16. The device of Claim 12 wherein said flexible sleeve is formed of a sheet of flexible material having along longitudinal opposed edges a fastening means for releasably forming said sheet of flexible material into said flexible sleeve. 17. The device of Claim 16 wherein said fastening means are hook- and-loop type contact fasteners and said flexible sheet further comprises means for releasably mounting said flexible sheet, when formed into said sleeve, in fixed relation relative to said radio phone. 18. The device of Claim 17 wherein said means for fixing said sleeve in fixed relation to said radio phone comprises strips of hook-and-loop type contact fasteners depending from the base of said sleeve so as to releasably mate with corresponding hook-and-loop type contact fasteners affixed to said radio phone. - 13 - 19. The device of Claim 12 further comprising an annular collar for releasable and slidable snug mounting onto said antenna for snugly retaining said antenna within said sleeve. 20. The device of Claim 16 further comprising means for forming an annular collar, affixed to said sheet of flexible material, for snugly retaining said antenna within said sleeve when said sheet of flexible material is formed into said sleeve. 21. A radio frequency radiation shield for a hand-held radio phone comprises a flexible radio-frequency radiation shield mounted along substantially the length of said antenna and around substantially one-half of the circumference of said antenna. - 14 -

Inventors: BICKERT PAUL F, BICKERT, PAUL, F.
Applicants: BICKERT PAUL F, BICKERT, PAUL, F.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H04B1
IPC codes: H01Q1, H04B1, H04Q7, H05K9